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Whistler skier part of best-ever ski mountaineering team

Whistler’s Melanie Bernier was part of a six member Canadian Ski Mountaineering team that took place in the Alps between Switzerland and France recently, racing in the individual, vertical and long distance events.

Whistler’s Melanie Bernier was part of a six member Canadian Ski Mountaineering team that took place in the Alps between Switzerland and France recently, racing in the individual, vertical and long distance events. The team placed 19 th out of 27 countries, Canada’s best showing to date.

At the upcoming Whistler Backcountry Freeride Jam during the World Ski and Snowboard Festival, Bernier is poised to win the women’s overall Canadian National Ski Mountaineering Cup.

Bernier was 32 nd in the individual race, 40 th in the vertical contest, and 23 rd in the informal long distance race.

 

Team Whistler on a roll

After a disappointing first event when crashes caused the eventual cancellation of the race and impacted every field of racers, Team Whistler was back in the saddle at the recent Team Escape Velocity Spring Series.

In the first race on Saturday, March 15, taking place on Snake Hill, Mike Boehm placed third, Trevor Hopkins fifth, and Josh Stott 10 th in the B classification, while Shani Laxon made the top-10 in the C group.

The A group also featured a battle of Sea to Sky riders, with Neal Kindree of Squamish edging out Whistler’s Will Routley for third place. To be fair, Routley was working to get teammate Ryan Anderson to the front to win the race.

Sunday’s race in Bradner was tougher for Team Whistler, as riders in the B group found themselves blocked out by the peleton and unable to pedal into the top-five. Tony Routley was even nudged onto the soft shoulder, after working his way into a decent position heading into the finish. In the C group, both Team Whistler riders — Jennifer Tabbernor and Shani Laxon — went down in a crash on the first lap.

 

Janyk, Osborne-Paradis to host Whistler ski camp

For the second year Mike Janyk and Manuel Osborne-Paradis are hosting an end-of-season ski camp for athletes with the talent and drive, but who may be lacking the financial resources to participate in summer training programs.

The camp is open to B.C. athletes born in 1992 and 1993 who show the necessary dedication but also can show their need. Athletes should write a letter up to 250 words explaining why they would like to participate and what they would like to learn in the camp. A coach’s recommendation should also be submitted along with the athlete letter to cowboyscamp@live.com.

The camp will take place over four days, April 24-27. Athletes must provide their own transportation to Whistler and home again, while all camp costs will be covered by sponsors — accommodation by the Resort Municipality of Whistler and ski passes and hill space by Whistler-Blackcomb.

 

Two spots left for B.C. Bike Race

The seven day B.C. Bike Race, which is in its second year, has sold 478 of the 480 spots available this year, and is hosting a contest for the last two spots for May 18. You can register online at www.bcbikerace.com.

The race will cover approximately 480 km of road and trail, getting underway in Victoria on June 28, and wrapping up in Whistler on July 4. The course is a little different this year with organizers adding more singletrack to the mix, as well as a day of riding in Squamish.

 

Mushers in the medals

A group of local Whistler dogsled teams took part in the annual Caledonia Classic Dog Sled Sprint Race recently, racing across a frozen lake near Fort St. James.

All of the teams were from Whistler Doglsedding, and more used to mountain trails than frozen legs, but all five local teams managed to finish in the top-10.

Richard Critterden placed third in the 10-dog, 10-mile race (16 km), while Chris Coghlan was third in the 6-dog, 6-mile category.

Nico Hazel was fourth in the 4-dog, 4-mile race, while Same Decoste and Will Jackson were sixth and seventh in the same category.

“It was like running on Green Lake,” said Critterden. “Here we have trails that we follow but there it was an open lake with a shallow snowmobile track. At first the dogs really didn’t know where to go. By the second day they were awesome.”

Racers competed on both days, and the winners were the teams with the lowest combined time.

 

Whistler snowboarders heading to the nationals

The B.C. Snowboard Association released a list of riders qualified to compete at the upcoming national championships at Cypress Mountain April 2-5. Whistler will be well-represented by the following athletes:

Halfpipe — Helen Schettini, Kara Rennie, Maia Chaput, Dan Raymond, Ryan Rausch, Dan Longo, Gerald Austman, Jonathan Redman, Neil Connolly, Tamo Campos (Whistler Valley Snowboard Club), Crispin Lipscomb, Justin Lamoureux, Mercedes Nicoll, Katie Tsuyuki.

Snowboardcross — Maëlle Ricker, Myrica Hinich, Allison Pasemko, Derek Wintermans, Adam Livingstone, Jamie May, Jonathan Redman.